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The name India is derived from Indus, which originates from the Old Persian word Hinduš. The latter term stems from the Sanskrit word Sindhu, which was the historical local appellation for the Indus River.[15] The ancient Greeks referred to the Indians as Indoi (Ινδοί), which translates as "the people of the Indus".[16]

During the period 2000–500 BCE, in terms of culture, many regions of the subcontinent transitioned from the Chalcolithic to the Iron Age.[26] The Vedas, the oldest scriptures of Hinduism,[27] were composed during this period,[28] and historians have analysed these to posit a Vedic culture in the Punjab region and the upper Gangetic Plain.[26] Most historians also consider this period to have encompassed several waves of Indo-Aryan migration into the subcontinent.[29][27] The caste system arose during this period, which created a hierarchy of priests, warriors, free peasants and traders, and lastly the indigenous peoples who were regarded as impure; and small tribal units gradually coalesced into monarchical, state-level polities.[30][31] On the Deccan Plateau, archaeological evidence from this period suggests the existence of a chiefdom stage of political organisation.[26] In southern India, a progression to sedentary life is indicated by the large number of megalithic monuments dating from this period,[32] as well as by nearby traces of agriculture, irrigation tanks, and craft traditions.[32]

In the late Vedic period, around the 6th century BCE, the small states and chiefdoms of the Ganges Plain and the north-western regions had consolidated into 16 major oligarchies and monarchies that were known as the mahajanapadas.[33][34] The emerging urbanisation and the orthodoxies of this age also created heterodox religious movements, two of which became independent religions. Buddhism, based on the teachings of Gautama Buddha attracted followers from all social classes excepting the middle class; chronicling the life of the Buddha was central to the beginnings of recorded history in India.[35][36][37] Jainism came into prominence during the life of its exemplar, Mahavira.[38] In an age of increasing urban wealth, both religions held up renunciation as an ideal,[39] and both established long-lasting monastic traditions. Politically, by the 3rd century BCE, the kingdom of Magadha had annexed or reduced other states to emerge as the Mauryan Empire.[40] The empire was once thought to have controlled most of the subcontinent excepting the far south, but its core regions are now thought to have been separated by large autonomous areas.[41][42] The Mauryan kings are known as much for their empire-building and determined management of public life as for Ashoka's renunciation of militarism and far-flung advocacy of the Buddhist dhamma.[43][44]

The Indian early medieval age, 600 CE to 1200 CE, is defined by regional kingdoms and cultural diversity.[51] When Harsha of Kannauj, who ruled much of the Indo-Gangetic Plain from 606 to 647 CE, attempted to expand southwards, he was defeated by the Chalukya ruler of the Deccan.[52] When his successor attempted to expand eastwards, he was defeated by the Pala king of Bengal.[52] When the Chalukyas attempted to expand southwards, they were defeated by the Pallavas from farther south, who in turn were opposed by the Pandyas and the Cholas from still farther south.[52] No ruler of this period was able to create an empire and consistently control lands much beyond his core region.[51] During this time, pastoral peoples whose land had been cleared to make way for the growing agricultural economy were accommodated within caste society, as were new non-traditional ruling classes.[53] The caste system consequently began to show regional differences.[53]

In the 6th and 7th centuries, the first devotional hymns were created in the Tamil language.[54] They were imitated all over India and led to both the resurgence of Hinduism and the development of all modern languages of the subcontinent.[54] Indian royalty, big and small, and the temples they patronised, drew citizens in great numbers to the capital cities, which became economic hubs as well.[55] Temple towns of various sizes began to appear everywhere as India underwent another urbanisation.[55] By the 8th and 9th centuries, the effects were felt in South-East Asia, as South Indian culture and political systems were exported to lands that became part of modern-day Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, and Java.[56] Indian merchants, scholars, and sometimes armies were involved in this transmission; South-East Asians took the initiative as well, with many sojourning in Indian seminaries and translating Buddhist and Hindu texts into their languages.[56]

After the 10th century, Muslim Central Asian nomadic clans, using swift-horse cavalry and raising vast armies united by ethnicity and religion, repeatedly overran South Asia's north-western plains, leading eventually to the establishment of the Islamic Delhi Sultanate in 1206.[57] The sultanate was to control much of North India, and to make many forays into South India. Although at first disruptive for the Indian elites, the sultanate largely left its vast non-Muslim subject population to its own laws and customs.[58][59] By repeatedly repulsing Mongol raiders in the 13th century, the sultanate saved India from the devastation visited on West and Central Asia, setting the scene for centuries of migration of fleeing soldiers, learned men, mystics, traders, artists, and artisans from that region into the subcontinent, thereby creating a syncretic Indo-Islamic culture in the north.[60][61] The sultanate's raiding and weakening of the regional kingdoms of South India paved the way for the indigenous Vijayanagara Empire.[62] Embracing a strong Shaivite tradition and building upon the military technology of the sultanate, the empire came to control much of peninsular India,[63] and was to influence South Indian society for long afterwards.[62]

Writing the will and testament of the Mughal king court in Persian, 1590–1595

In the early 16th century, northern India, being then under mainly Muslim rulers,[64] fell again to the superior mobility and firepower of a new generation of Central Asian warriors.[65] The resulting Mughal Empire did not stamp out the local societies it came to rule, but rather balanced and pacified them through new administrative practices[66][67] and diverse and inclusive ruling elites,[68] leading to more systematic, centralised, and uniform rule.[69] Eschewing tribal bonds and Islamic identity, especially under Akbar, the Mughals united their far-flung realms through loyalty, expressed through a Persianised culture, to an emperor who had near-divine status.[68] The Mughal state's economic policies, deriving most revenues from agriculture[70] and mandating that taxes be paid in the well-regulated silver currency,[71] caused peasants and artisans to enter larger markets.[69] The relative peace maintained by the empire during much of the 17th century was a factor in India's economic expansion,[69] resulting in greater patronage of painting, literary forms, textiles, and architecture.[72] Newly coherent social groups in northern and western India, such as the Marathas, the Rajputs, and the Sikhs, gained military and governing ambitions during Mughal rule, which, through collaboration or adversity, gave them both recognition and military experience.[73] Expanding commerce during Mughal rule gave rise to new Indian commercial and political elites along the coasts of southern and eastern India.[73] As the empire disintegrated, many among these elites were able to seek and control their own affairs.[74] The "single most important power" that emerged in the early modern period was the Maratha confederacy.[75]

By the early 18th century, with the lines between commercial and political dominance being increasingly blurred, a number of European trading companies, including the English East India Company, had established coastal outposts.[76][77] The East India Company's control of the seas, greater resources, and more advanced military training and technology led it to increasingly flex its military muscle and caused it to become attractive to a portion of the Indian elite; both these factors were crucial in allowing the Company to gain control over the Bengal region by 1765 and sideline the other European companies.[78][76][79][80] Its further access to the riches of Bengal and the subsequent increased strength and size of its army enabled it to annex or subdue most of India by the 1820s.[81] India was then no longer exporting manufactured goods as it long had, but was instead supplying the British empire with raw materials, and many historians consider this to be the onset of India's colonial period.[76] By this time, with its economic power severely curtailed by the British parliament and itself effectively made an arm of British administration, the Company began to more consciously enter non-economic arenas such as education, social reform, and culture.[82]

Historians consider India's modern age to have begun sometime between 1848 and 1885. The appointment in 1848 of Lord Dalhousie as Governor General of the East India Company set the stage for changes essential to a modern state. These included the consolidation and demarcation of sovereignty, the surveillance of the population, and the education of citizens. Technological changes—among them, railways, canals, and the telegraph—were introduced not long after their introduction in Europe.[83][84][85][86] However, disaffection with the Company also grew during this time, and set off the Indian Rebellion of 1857. Fed by diverse resentments and perceptions, including invasive British-style social reforms, harsh land taxes, and summary treatment of some rich landowners and princes, the rebellion rocked many regions of northern and central India and shook the foundations of Company rule.[87][88] Although the rebellion was suppressed by 1858, it led to the dissolution of the East India Company and to the direct administration of India by the British government. Proclaiming a unitary state and a gradual but limited British-style parliamentary system, the new rulers also protected princes and landed gentry as a feudal safeguard against future unrest.[89][90] In the decades following, public life gradually emerged all over India, leading eventually to the founding of the Indian National Congress in 1885.[91][92][93][94]

The rush of technology and the commercialisation of agriculture in the second half of the 19th century was marked by economic setbacks—many small farmers became dependent on the whims of far-away markets.[95] There was an increase in the number of large-scale famines,[96] and, despite the risks of infrastructure development borne by Indian taxpayers, little industrial employment was generated for Indians.[97] There were also salutary effects: commercial cropping, especially in the newly canalled Punjab, led to increased food production for internal consumption.[98] The railway network provided critical famine relief,[99] notably reduced the cost of moving goods,[99] and helped nascent Indian-owned industry.[98] After World War I, in which some one million Indians served,[100] a new period began. It was marked by British reforms but also repressive legislation, by more strident Indian calls for self-rule, and by the beginnings of a nonviolent movement of non-cooperation, of which Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi would become the leader and enduring symbol.[101] During the 1930s, slow legislative reform was enacted by the British; the Indian National Congress won victories in the resulting elections.[102] The next decade was beset with crises: Indian participation in World War II, the Congress's final push for non-cooperation, and an upsurge of Muslim nationalism. All were capped by the advent of independence in 1947, but tempered by the partition of India into two states: India and Pakistan.[103]

Vital to India's self-image as an independent nation was its constitution, completed in 1950, which put in place a secular and democratic republic (on independence in 1947 George VI ceased to be Emperor of India, rescinded retroactively by Act of Parliament 22 June 1948, and became King of India until 26 January 1950)[104] In the 60 years since, India has had a mixed record of successes and failures.[105] It has remained a democracy with civil liberties, an active Supreme Court, and a largely independent press.[105] Economic liberalisation, which was begun in the 1990s, has created a large urban middle class, transformed India into one of the world's fastest-growing economies,[106] and increased its geopolitical clout. Indian movies, music, and spiritual teachings play an increasing role in global culture.[105] Yet, India is also shaped by seemingly unyielding poverty, both rural and urban;[105] by religious and caste-related violence;[107] by Maoist-inspired Naxalite insurgencies;[108] and by separatism in Jammu and Kashmir and in Northeast India.[109] It has unresolved territorial disputes with China,[110] and with Pakistan.[110] The India–Pakistan nuclear rivalry came to a head in 1998.[111] India's sustained democratic freedoms are unique among the world's new nations; however, in spite of its recent economic successes, freedom from want for its disadvantaged population remains a goal yet to be achieved.[112]

The original Indian plate survives as peninsular India, the oldest and geologically most stable part of India. It extends as far north as the Satpura and Vindhya ranges in central India. These parallel chains run from the Arabian Sea coast in Gujarat in the west to the coal-rich Chota Nagpur Plateau in Jharkhand in the east.[117] To the south, the remaining peninsular landmass, the Deccan Plateau, is flanked on the west and east by coastal ranges known as the Western and Eastern Ghats;[118] the plateau contains the country's oldest rock formations, some over one billion years old. Constituted in such fashion, India lies to the north of the equator between 6° 44' and 35° 30' north latitude[lower-alpha 5] and 68° 7' and 97° 25' east longitude.[119]

Major Himalayan-origin rivers that substantially flow through India include the Ganges and the Brahmaputra, both of which drain into the Bay of Bengal.[121] Important tributaries of the Ganges include the Yamuna and the Kosi; the latter's extremely low gradient often leads to severe floods and course changes.[122] Major peninsular rivers, whose steeper gradients prevent their waters from flooding, include the Godavari, the Mahanadi, the Kaveri, and the Krishna, which also drain into the Bay of Bengal;[123] and the Narmada and the Tapti, which drain into the Arabian Sea.[124] Coastal features include the marshy Rann of Kutch of western India and the alluvial Sundarbans delta of eastern India; the latter is shared with Bangladesh.[125] India has two archipelagos: the Lakshadweep, coral atolls off India's south-western coast; and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a volcanic chain in the Andaman Sea.[126]

The Indian climate is strongly influenced by the Himalayas and the Thar Desert, both of which drive the economically and culturally pivotal summer and winter monsoons.[127] The Himalayas prevent cold Central Asian katabatic winds from blowing in, keeping the bulk of the Indian subcontinent warmer than most locations at similar latitudes.[128][129] The Thar Desert plays a crucial role in attracting the moisture-laden south-west summer monsoon winds that, between June and October, provide the majority of India's rainfall.[127] Four major climatic groupings predominate in India: tropical wet, tropical dry, subtropical humid, and montane.[130]

In the Republic of India's first three general elections, in 1951, 1957, and 1962, the Jawaharlal Nehru-led Congress won easy victories. On Nehru's death in 1964, Lal Bahadur Shastri briefly became prime minister; he was succeeded, after his own unexpected death in 1966, by Indira Gandhi, who went on to lead the Congress to election victories in 1967 and 1971. Following public discontent with the state of emergency she declared in 1975, the Congress was voted out of power in 1977; the then-new Janata Party, which had opposed the emergency, was voted in. Its government lasted just over three years. Voted back into power in 1980, the Congress saw a change in leadership in 1984, when Indira Gandhi was assassinated; she was succeeded by her son Rajiv Gandhi, who won an easy victory in the general elections later that year. The Congress was voted out again in 1989 when a National Front coalition, led by the newly formed Janata Dal in alliance with the Left Front, won the elections; that government too proved relatively short-lived: it lasted just under two years.[149] Elections were held again in 1991; no party won an absolute majority. But the Congress, as the largest single party, was able to form a minority government led by P. V. Narasimha Rao.[150]

Executive: The President of India is the head of state[161] and is elected indirectly by a national electoral college[162] for a five-year term.[163] The Prime Minister of India is the head of government and exercises most executive power.[164] Appointed by the president,[165] the prime minister is by convention supported by the party or political alliance holding the majority of seats in the lower house of parliament.[164] The executive branch of the Indian government consists of the president, the vice-president, and the Council of Ministers—the cabinet being its executive committee—headed by the prime minister. Any minister holding a portfolio must be a member of one of the houses of parliament.[161] In the Indian parliamentary system, the executive is subordinate to the legislature; the prime minister and his council are directly responsible to the lower house of the parliament.[166]

Legislative: The legislature of India is the bicameralparliament. It operates under a Westminster-style parliamentary system and comprises the upper house called the Rajya Sabha ("Council of States") and the lower called the Lok Sabha ("House of the People").[167] The Rajya Sabha is a permanent body that has 245 members who serve in staggered six-year terms.[168] Most are elected indirectly by the state and territorial legislatures in numbers proportional to their state's share of the national population.[165] All but two of the Lok Sabha's 545 members are directly elected by popular vote; they represent individual constituencies via five-year terms.[169] The remaining two members are nominated by the president from among the Anglo-Indian community, in case the president decides that they are not adequately represented.[170]

India is a federation composed of 29 states and 7 union territories.[175] All states, as well as the union territories of Puducherry and the National Capital Territory of Delhi, have elected legislatures and governments, both patterned on the Westminster model. The remaining five union territories are directly ruled by the centre through appointed administrators. In 1956, under the States Reorganisation Act, states were reorganised on a linguistic basis.[176] Since then, their structure has remained largely unchanged. Each state or union territory is further divided into administrative districts. The districts in turn are further divided into tehsils and ultimately into villages.

The 486.6-million worker Indian labour force is the world's second-largest, as of 2011.[196] The service sector makes up 55.6% of GDP, the industrial sector 26.3% and the agricultural sector 18.1%. Major agricultural products include rice, wheat, oilseed, cotton, jute, tea, sugarcane, and potatoes.[175] Major industries include textiles, telecommunications, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, food processing, steel, transport equipment, cement, mining, petroleum, machinery, and software.[175] In 2006, the share of external trade in India's GDP stood at 24%, up from 6% in 1985.[207] In 2008, India's share of world trade was 1.68%;[211] In 2011, India was the world's tenth-largest importer and the nineteenth-largest exporter.[212] Major exports include petroleum products, textile goods, jewellery, software, engineering goods, chemicals, and leather manufactures.[175] Major imports include crude oil, machinery, gems, fertiliser, and chemicals.[175] Between 2001 and 2011, the contribution of petrochemical and engineering goods to total exports grew from 14% to 42%.[213] India was the second largest textile exporter after China in the world in calender year 2013.[214]

Averaging an economic growth rate of 7.5% for several years prior to 2007,[207] India has more than doubled its hourly wage rates during the first decade of the 21st century.[215] Some 431 million Indians have left poverty since 1985; India's middle classes are projected to number around 580 million by 2030.[216] Though ranking 51st in global competitiveness, India ranks 17th in financial market sophistication, 24th in the banking sector, 44th in business sophistication, and 39th in innovation, ahead of several advanced economies, as of 2010.[217] With 7 of the world's top 15 information technology outsourcing companies based in India, the country is viewed as the second-most favourable outsourcing destination after the United States, as of 2009.[218] India's consumer market, currently the world's eleventh-largest, is expected to become fifth-largest by 2030.[216]

India's telecommunication industry, the world's fastest-growing, added 227 million subscribers during the period 2010–11,[219] and after the first quarter of 2013, India surpassed Japan to become the third largest smartphone market in the world after China and the U.S.[220]

Its automotive industry, the world's second fastest growing, increased domestic sales by 26% during 2009–10,[221] and exports by 36% during 2008–09.[222] Power capacity is 250 gigawatts, of which 8% is renewable. At the end of 2011, Indian IT Industry employed 2.8 million professionals, generated revenues close to US$100 billion equalling 7.5% of Indian GDP and contributed 26% of India's merchandise exports.[223]

The pharmaceutical industry in India is among the significant emerging markets for global pharma industry. The Indian pharmaceutical market is expected to reach $48.5 billion by 2020. India's R & D spending constitutes 60% of Biopharmaceutical industry.[224][225] India is among the top 12 Biotech destinations of the world.[226][227] The Indian biotech industry grew by 15.1% in 2012–13, increasing its revenues from 204.4 Billion INR (Indian Rupees) to 235.24 Billion INR (3.94 B US$ - exchange rate June 2013: 1 US$ approx. 60 INR)[228] Although hardly 2% of Indians pay income taxes.[229]

Driven by growth, India's nominal GDP per capita has steadily increased from US$329 in 1991, when economic liberalisation began, to US$1,265 in 2010, and is estimated to increase to US$2,110 by 2016; however, it has remained lower than those of other Asian developing countries such as Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Thailand, and is expected to remain so in the near future. While it is currently higher than Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and others.[238]

According to a 2011 PricewaterhouseCoopers report, India's GDP at purchasing power parity could overtake that of the United States by 2045.[239] During the next four decades, Indian GDP is expected to grow at an annualised average of 8%, making it potentially the world's fastest-growing major economy until 2050.[239] The report highlights key growth factors: a young and rapidly growing working-age population; growth in the manufacturing sector because of rising education and engineering skill levels; and sustained growth of the consumer market driven by a rapidly growing middle class.[239] The World Bank cautions that, for India to achieve its economic potential, it must continue to focus on public sector reform, transport infrastructure, agricultural and rural development, removal of labour regulations, education, energy security, and public health and nutrition.[240]

With 1,210,193,422 residents reported in the 2011 provisional census report,[8] India is the world's second-most populous country. Its population grew by 17.64% during 2001–2011,[241] compared to 21.54% growth in the previous decade (1991–2001).[241] The human sex ratio, according to the 2011 census, is 940 females per 1,000 males.[8] The median age was 24.9 in the 2001 census.[196] The first post-colonial census, conducted in 1951, counted 361.1 million people.[242] Medical advances made in the last 50 years as well as increased agricultural productivity brought about by the "Green Revolution" have caused India's population to grow rapidly.[243] India continues to face several public health-related challenges.[244][245] Life expectancy in India is at 68 years with life expectancy for women being 69.6 years and for men being 67.3.[246] There are around 50 physicians per 100,000 Indians.[247] The number of Indians living in urban areas has grown by 31.2% between 1991 and 2001.[248] Yet, in 2001, over 70% lived in rural areas.[249][250] The level of urbanization increased from 27.81% in 2001 Census to 31.16% in 2011 Census. The slowing down of the overall growth rate of population was due to the sharp decline in the growth rate in rural areas since 1991.[251] According to the 2011 census, there are 53 million-plus cities in India; among them Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Pune and Kolkata are in order of the most populous metropolitan areas. The literacy rate in 2011 was 74.04%: 65.46% among females and 82.14% among males.[252] The rural urban literacy gap which was 21.2 percentage points in 2001, dropped to 16.1 percentage points in 2011. The improvement in literacy rate in rural area is two times that in urban areas.[251] Kerala is the most literate state with 93.91% literacy; while Bihar the least with 63.82%.[252] India is home to two major language families: Indo-Aryan (spoken by about 74% of the population) and Dravidian (24%). Other languages spoken in India come from the Austroasiatic and Tibeto-Burman language families. India has no national language.[253] Hindi, with the largest number of speakers, is the official language of the government.[254][255] English is used extensively in business and administration and has the status of a "subsidiary official language";[256] it is important in education, especially as a medium of higher education. Each state and union territory has one or more official languages, and the constitution recognises in particular 22 "scheduled languages" making the Indian Subcontinent home to more languages than any other place in the world.[257] The Constitution of India recognises 212 scheduledtribal groups which together constitute about 7.5% of the country's population.[258] The 2001 census reported that Hinduism, with over 800 million adherents (80.5% of the population), was the largest religion in India; it is followed by Islam (13.4%), Christianity (2.3%), Sikhism (1.9%), Buddhism (0.8%), Jainism (0.4%), Judaism, Zoroastrianism, and the Bahá'í Faith.[259] India has the world's largest Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Zoroastrian, and Bahá'í populations, and has the third-largest Muslim population and the largest Muslim population for a non-Muslim majority country.[260][261]

Television broadcasting began in India in 1959 as a state-run medium of communication, and had slow expansion for more than two decades.[291][292] The state monopoly on television broadcast ended in the 1990s and, since then, satellite channels have increasingly shaped popular culture of Indian society.[293] Today, television is the most penetrative media in India; industry estimates indicate that as of 2012 there are over 554 million TV consumers, 462 million with satellite and/or cable connections, compared to other forms of mass media such as press (350 million), radio (156 million) or internet (37 million).[294]

Traditional Indian society is sometimes defined by social hierarchy. The Indian caste system embodies much of the social stratification and many of the social restrictions found in the Indian subcontinent. Social classes are defined by thousands of endogamous hereditary groups, often termed as jātis, or "castes".[295] India declared untouchability to be illegal[296] in 1947 and has since enacted other anti-discriminatory laws and social welfare initiatives. At the workplace in urban India and in international or leading Indian companies, the caste related identification has pretty much lost its importance.[297][298] Family values are important in the Indian tradition, and multi-generational patriarchal joint families have been the norm in India, though nuclear families are becoming common in urban areas.[299] An overwhelming majority of Indians, with their consent, have their marriages arranged by their parents or other family members.[300] Marriage is thought to be for life,[300] and the divorce rate is extremely low.[301]Child marriages are common, especially in rural areas; many women in India wed before reaching 18, which is their legal marriageable age.[302]Female infanticide in India and female foeticide in India have caused a discrepancy in the sex ratio, as of 2005 it was estimated that there were 50 million more males than females in the nation.[303][304] However the recent report from 2011 shown improvement among the gender ratio.[305] The payment of Dowry, although illegal, remains widespread across class lines.[306]Deaths resulting from dowry, mostly from bride burning, are on the rise.[307]

Cotton was domesticated in India by 4000 B.C.E. Traditional Indian dress varies in colour and style across regions and depends on various factors, including climate and faith. Popular styles of dress include draped garments such as the sari for women and the dhoti or lungi for men. Stitched clothes, such as the shalwar kameez for women and kurta–pyjama combinations or European-style trousers and shirts for men, are also popular.[309] Use of delicate jewellery, modelled on real flowers worn in ancient India, is part of a tradition dating back some 5,000 years; gemstones are also worn in India as talismans.[310]

In a career of twenty four-year span, Sachin Tendulkar has created many batting records, including most runs in both tests and ODIs and most number of centuries in both tests and ODIs, thus making him one of the most successful cricketers ever.

^"[...] Jana Gana Mana is the National Anthem of India, subject to such alterations in the words as the Government may authorise as occasion arises; and the song Vande Mataram, which has played a historic part in the struggle for Indian freedom, shall be honoured equally with Jana Gana Mana and shall have equal status with it." (Constituent Assembly of India 1950).

^"The country's exact size is subject to debate because some borders are disputed. The Indian government lists the total area as 3,287,260 km2 (1,269,220 sq mi) and the total land area as 3,060,500 km2 (1,181,700 sq mi); the United Nations lists the total area as 3,287,263 km2 (1,269,219 sq mi) and total land area as 2,973,190 km2 (1,147,960 sq mi)." (Library of Congress 2004).

^The northernmost point under Indian control is the disputed Siachen Glacier in Jammu and Kashmir; however, the Government of India regards the entire region of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, including the Northern Areas administered by Pakistan, to be its territory. It therefore assigns the longitude 37° 6' to its northernmost point.

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